123w ago - Following up on his Rogero CEX PS3 Custom Firmware (CFW) v4.21 release that bricked many PS3 consoles, PlayStation 3 homebrew developer Rogero has now made available a PS3 Brick-Recovery Procedure from CFW 4.21 back to CFW 3.55 using Rogero PS3 NOR Auto Patcher v0.01 as outlined below.

To quote: Brick-Recovery Procedure from CFW4.21 back to CFW3.55

After Testing with some bricked Slim consoles (from updating to CFW4.21) with different friends and testers around the world, I can confirm that Bricked consoles can be recovered back to CFW3.55 even if you didn't have a NOR Dump/Backup.

Requirements are:

1- A Hardware Flasher so you can read/write to the PS3 NOR flash
2- A Dongle with PSgrade payload (any old jailbreak dongle + PSGrade hex will do) used to Enter Factory Service Mode (FSM)
3- Rogero CEX-3.55 CFW V3.7

Recovery Procedure :

1- Dump the current NOR Flash of the bricked PS3 at least 3 times using a hardware flasher (Progskeet / E3 / TEENSY++)
2- Verify that it is properly dumped and you have a valid dump by comparing your dumps or following these steps: Validating_flash_dumps (via ps3devwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Validating_flash_dumps)
3- Patch the dump using Rogero PS3 NOR Auto Patcher: PS3_Nor_Dump_Auto_Patcher_v0.01.rar
3- Flash the Patched Dump back into the PS3 NOR using the Hardware flasher.
4- From this point you can continue as a normal Downgrade Procedure by entering Factory Service Mode using the dongle and Flashing Rogero CEX-3.55 v3.7 from the USB stick.

Notes:

I didn't receive any Brick report from any FAT PS3 that updated to CFW4.21, so it seems FAT consoles are not being affected by the bug.

Apparently only the last downgradable Slim models are affected (CECH-25xx with Datecode 1A and base FW version = 3.50)

I also know that there are also few Slims that bricked with model CECH-20xx but 90% of the reports were model (CECH-25xx with Datecode 1A and base FW version = 3.50).

The Brick may be caused by the boot-loaders not being written correctly into the NOR during the Update process.

Please note also that all the above info may not be 100% accurate, things are still being worked on so nothing is confirmed at all and I don't promise anything about an updated CFW.

CECH 2504B BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2501B BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2501A BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2511A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2004A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2504A ACCEPTABLE Slim - possible bricks

CECH 2011A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2001A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2104A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH2004B N/A N/A

CECH 2101A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2004B ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH-2504A BRICKABLE Slim

CECHJ 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHG 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 11 ACCEPTABLE N/A

CECHK 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHK 11 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHH 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHG 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

Note: This isn't set in stone. Have a hardware flasher or know how to recover even if your console model is acceptable. Make a multiMAN NAND/NOR backup and ensure QA flags are set!!! Hope you have a great time!

PS3UPDAT_Rogero_CEX_4.46_v1.01_Downgrader.PUP (MD5: e66fa806125bd9f0b7698f00324a4cd1) - Here's the PUP that have 9.99 as the built in version, it's basically a 4.46 downgrader, it will install on any version CFW up to 9.99 and will get you back on 4.46, in your case where your PS3 have 3.56 minver you can't use the normal 3.55 Downgrader, so this PUP will be a simple solution for you to get on CFW4.46.

N.B: Please people don't use this PUP for normal Updates, it will fill your syscon version with 9.99 and you need to Downgrade back to 3.55 and dehash in case this PUP was used, but for 3.56 Minver users the 3.55 Downgrader can't be used, that's why I posted this PUP just to help him install CFW4.46 without going into much details on how to dehash the 3.56Minver PS3.

Rogero 4.46 1.01 PS3 CFW Features:

[*]ReActPSN patch to work offline without the need to log into PSN at all.
[*]noBD/noBT patches to allow installation on consoles with broken BluRay Drive or Bluetooth board.
[*]This CFW can be installed fine from XMB Update over OFW3.55 or any CFW ver